Vicious Bloodsuckers and Where to Find Them
by Leocht
Summary: While on their way to rejoin the Cirque, Mr. Crepsley and Darren are ambushed by a group of Aurors who want to study their kind. (T for violence and a smattering of language)
1. Chapter 1

**I should probably be working on the next chapter for Bring Him Home but...**

-:-:-

The Auror crept through the woods, wand raised defensively. His teammates were nearby, waiting for his signal to show themselves. It was high noon, the perfect time to catch a vampire. He had done plenty of research on these creatures and he knew that even when weakened by the sun, they were unbelievably fast, so he had set up special barriers to trap them in. There would be no escaping him this time. The barriers were specially tuned to keep any non-wizarding or human being trapped inside.

He sucked in a sharp breath and pressed himself against a tree. There they were. The two creatures didn't have a fire going as it was a warm day and they obviously didn't want to draw attention to themselves. They were a very strange looking pair. The tall, unnaturally orange-haired man wore dated Muggle clothes and a red cloak and the young black-haired boy was dressed like a pirate. Frankly, it looked as though they had come from a freak show! The boy shifted in his sleep causing the man to tighten his grip on his wand and heave a quiet sigh of relief when he just snuggled closer into the older vampire's side.

The blue-robed wizard raised three fingers on his non-wand hand to begin the countdown to his partners.

'Three...two...one, now!'

The older vampire woke at the rustling and crashing they made in the clearing surrounding their hideaway and was on his feet, pushing his sleepy cub behind him faster than the wizard's eyes could follow.

"_Stupefy_!"

The child cried out as his protector fell to his knees in pain.

The Auror frowned. Not even a centaur could take more than three stupefys without being knocked flat on their back. These beasts must be even more powerful than they thought they were. The vampire was on top of him with a clawed hand on his throat, despite how high the sun was on the horizon before he could cast another spell.

The others saw their chance and went after the smaller, more vulnerable cub. He yelped and tried to scramble away but the back of the cave blocked his escape. But as the wizards closed in on him with their wandless hands out, in a soothing gesture, he lashed out with his own claws, kicking, punching and slashing with his claws in a manner that seemed almost calculated, which was of course impossible seeing as vampires were mindless beasts at the best of times.

One of the rookies yelped as he sliced his arm up with his claws and yelled "_Diffindo!"_

The vampire cub screamed as a long cut opened up across his torso.

The vampire with his hand on the leader's throat promptly let go, hearing the cub's cry.

"Darren!"

They had names? Interesting. That was something he'd have to record later. He raised his wand to restrain the older vampire as well, but he disappeared and reappeared in front of the sobbing, terrified boy, teeth bared in a menacing snarl daring anybody to take another step towards them. Earlier, he had seemed annoyed that his nap had been interrupted but now that the child was injured he seemed downright murderous. The wizard added another mental note.

'_In addition to a pack mentality, vampires have a very strong protective instinct towards their young.'_

The orange-haired one muttered something under his breath and the boy nodded just slightly. The older male launched one of his knives at the lead wizard's head and it embedded itself in the tree behind him just shy of his ear. While he was distracted the male swept up the cub and was attempting to make his escape into the trees and through the forest. He wouldn't make it very far though. A few seconds later, he heard a roar of pain. They must have hit the barrier. There were loud cracks as the detainment squad apparated to the barrier.

The boy laying spread eagle on the ground a few feet away from the other, pale and unconscious most likely due to the head wound he had received when he was thrown away from the barrier. The orange-haired male's sleeves were singed and his palms were a raw, bloody mess. He started in surprise as his pursuers suddenly appeared in front of him and he tried to reach his cub, ignoring the obvious pain in his hands.

"_Carpe Retractum!"_

The vampire was yanked harshly back by the invisible rope and landed dazed on his back.

"_Incarcerous."_

Ropes appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around the creature, who began to thrash again.

"Release me! Darren!"

The cub made didn't even twitch as the others loaded him into one of the enchanted cages they had brought.

"Be careful with that! He's a rare specimen, we've never caught one this young before."

The older and less valuable one thrashed against his bonds as they grew tighter in response to his struggles until they grew tight enough to cut off his air supply. Within a few minutes, he was unconscious as well.

"Hurry and cover him up. He may not be as rare as the cub, but we've never seen any of our other specimens exhibit this sort of a bond before. We'll take him too."

"Yessir," one of the few uninjured wizards replied, casting a quick spell to shield the vampire before he got even more sunburnt and placing him in a cage as well.

Yes, the Ministry would be delighted to hear about this. Two vampires being captured in one day was a record!

-:-:-

**I need a name for the Auror dude. Also I purposely made him out to be kind of ignorant because it seemed like many wizards were like that about other magical beings and even other humans.**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Vampires are a Class A beast. They are characterized by purple skin and red eyes, hair and nails. Vampires often travel in packs but are more likely to travel by themselves or with one companion. Vampires are still believed to convert their victims to vampirism via biting their necks and injecting their venom into the unfortunate human's blood stream. _

_It would appear that most vampires go mad after a few years of draining others dry, but like many of our theories, this has yet to be tested. For this reason, vampires are thought to be imbeciles._

_Vampires are extremely powerful. Their claws are capable of slicing through nearly any substance including iron. They also appear to be able to perform some sort of short distance apparation which was previously thought to be impossible by anyone other than a practiced wizard."_

_-_Durus Sanguinus, Vicious Bloodsuckers and Where to Find Them

-:-:-

Unfamiliar voices drifted on the very edge of my consciousness.

"...two days...still out?"

"...how old...?"

"Interesting. All the other ones we've caught have been purple."

"...scarred face. Yeah him."

"...Sire, maybe? What about his Dam?"

Were they talking about Mr. Crepsley?

"Can he talk?"

The voices grew a little clearer as I began to wake up.

"Dunno. We think the his companion may. He called him 'Darren'."

"What's the adult's name?"

"He's being uncooperative."

Definitely Mr. Crepsley.

"He seems to be very worried for this one's safety."

_'Why would he be worried about me though?'_

Suddenly the events of the past day came back and slammed into me full-force. There were people surrounding us and pointing weird sticks at us and speaking in some sort of foreign language that made bolts of light shoot out and-

"Oh, look! He's finally awake."

I blinked and screwed my eyes up against the bright light above me. My eyes came back into focus and I could see the faces of my captors.

"Hello, little one. What is your name?"

The strange person spoke to me slowly and carefully like one would to a dog or other animal they were trying to soothe and I didn't appreciate that one bit. The four people surrounding me were dressed in white robe-y things and and ridiculously shapeless, ugly hats. I ignored the condescending woman's question and tried to sit up, but my wrists were bound to the table with thick iron manacles.

"Sorry, love. Those are there for your own safety. We can't let you escape and hurt somebody. We'd be in big trouble if we let you drain anybody," the first speaker, a woman, said.

"It probably doesn't understand what you're saying. None of the others did. They just snarled and spat at us like rabid animals, they did," he snorted and pulled a piece of my hair. "This one looks enough like an animal. Hasn't he ever had a haircut or bath?"

I balked before glaring venomously at the man. I didn't look _that_ bad. I mean, sure a haircut was probably long overdue, but I had taken a bath last time we had access to enough water to take one and that was only two weeks ago. Okay, maybe I was a little grimy, but that's not necessarily something you point out like that.

"It's always a good idea to make sure that your subject is actually incapable of understanding you before you go and insult them like that," I snapped.

"He _can_ speak! I told you so."

"Ooh, write this down!"

The first woman got too close to my face for comfort. I tried to squirm away, but the handcuffs held me back.

"What can you tell us about your kind?"

I turned my head away, silently refusing to answer. One of my observers flicked their stick at me and I found myself frozen from the shoulders down, forcing me to look at them.

"What the bloody hell did you do to me?"

I thrashed furiously against my invisible bonds as the strange people closed in on me, trying to continue their questionnaire.

"How old are you really?"

"What is your relationship to the older male?"

"Where do you hail from?"

"How were you converted? We couldn't find any marks on your neck, but there are some strange scars on your fingers. Is that how you were changed?"

"Are there many others?"

The list went on and on. Finally, they seemed to get fed up with my stony silence.

"Do we still have some Veritaserum? That could work."

The condescending-tone-lady balked.

"B-but we don't know what kind of effect it could have on him! He could-"

"Just get it. A drop or two shouldn't hurt him."

One of the other people scurried off and returned a few minutes later with a clear, shimmery liquid in a glass vial. From a distance, it looked like water but up close I could just barely detect the acrid, sour scent that also seemed to be coming from my handcuffs and from the people around me, now that I thought about it.

The person with the vial inserted a pipette and drew out a few droplets of the not-water. The white-robed person closest to my head moved to pry my mouth open. My eyes shot open in fear as I realized what they intended to do. I bit down hard and the person-a man-screamed and yanked the bleeding tips of his fingers away.

"It bit me! The little bugger!"

The others gasped in shock and horror as I spat out what I could of his gloves and skin. His blood tasted _foul. _

"Forget the serum! Just put him back under!"

I screamed for my mentor still struggling fruitlessly to escape. "No, don't touch me! Mr. Crepsley! Mr. Crepsley, help me!"

The only one who wasn't busy with mystery liquids or missing fingers swished their wand over my eyes and spoke something in that language I still couldn't place and I was overwhelmed by a feeling of calm as black crept into my vision and I sank back into unconsciousness.

"Mr. Crepsley...help me, please."

-:-:-

"That's quite the powerful pair of choppers he's got there. Are you sure he's safe to send to school?"

"Hagrid is trustworthy and has a knack for taming wild creatures. If he can tame a Hippogriff, he can deal with a vampire cub."

"What'll we do with the other one then? They could pose a real threat together."

"We'll keep him. Sanguinus wanted to see how a less feral one would react to certain situations."

"Like separation from the cub?"

"I was thinking something a tad more extreme."

"You can't mean-"

"Of course we won't _really _do it. He's too valuable a specimen. But the other one won't know any better, will 'e?"

-:-:-

**Dundunduuuun I'm evil (also the jerk from the first chapter is Sanguinus).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Eyyyyy look who's back with more procrastination chapters :D It seems I've gotten a pretty warm welcome with this story. Thank you to everybody who reviewed or followed!**

**Review Answers:**

**Silver mane 1: No, Sanguinus is the researcher who caught them. Also I haven't actually read the Harry Potter books in **_**years. **_**I finished the series when I was around eight and I haven't found the time to go back through all the books so my knowledge of non-main characters may be a little spotty.**

**A short note before we begin: Darren is around the age he is in Vampire Mountain.**

-:-:-

Larten restlessly stalked from one end of his small cage to the other, making his "handler" slightly uncomfortable. There should not have been wizards so far south! Their headquarters were in Scotland, not Wales!

"Charna's Guts!"

His skin still smarted from being exposed to the sun and his hands were still a little sore even after he administered a coating of spit. The wizards had left him mostly alone after he snarled at one of them, but he still had no idea what had happened to his Assistant. He swore again, his brow furrowing in worry. The last time he saw the boy, he was unconscious and being tossed roughly into a cage.

Suddenly a terror-filled cry ripped through his brooding and made his blood run cold.

"_No, don't touch me! Mr. Crepsley! Mr. Crepsley, help me!"_

It was Darren!

"Oi! Let me out of here!"

The armored wizard "guarding" him jumped in surprise before turning a nasty, relatively unwarranted glare towards the caged vampire.

"Shut your filthy trap, cur!"

Crepsley growled and shot a hand out between the bars of the cage and dragged the man towards him by his collar, ignoring the burning in his shoulder from the spells on the metal.

"Where is he? Where is my Assistant?" he demanded, worry tinging the fury in his tone.

"H-help! He's got me!" the wizard hollered trying in vain to escape his grip.

"_Tell me!_" he roared. "What have you done with him?"

Several more of the wizards flooded into the room, filling it with their stench with their sticks raised offensively. "Answer me, damn it!"

The wizard in his grip continued to blubber and the foul scent of magic grew and mixed with the smell of his skin burning under his shirt. The other wizards opened their mouths to cast another series of spells to knock him out again, but they were halted by the arrival of yet another white-cloaked human with a series of gold and blue stripes on their hat that must have meant they were in authority.

"Mr. Sanguinus! He's gone feral. He just attacked Jedens out of nowhere!"

"Lower your wands."

"B-but, Sir!"

"Lower them, you're making him feel threatened and there's no telling what he'll do if provoked."

The burning in his arm got to be too much and the captive vampire threw his whimpering prisoner away, hissing in pain as the "Sanguinus" person strode toward his enclosure with a somewhat false aura of calm.

Larten frowned as he felt something prodding at the very edge of his mind, much like when somebody tried to communicate telepathically with him, but this feeling was much more forceful and invasive. He growled and hardened his mental barriers against the man's prying, but that didn't seem to deter him. Instead as he approached the metal and wood contraption, his face took on a sympathetic look, but what for, the much older man couldn't tell. This man carried the same scent as the one who led the wizards who had kidnapped he and his Assistant.

"You seemed to be very close to the cub."

"I must ask you to kindly get out of my head," Larten grit out, none too pleased with his captor.

The man blinked in surprise for a moment before covering it back up again in a mask of placidity.

"What was your relationship to the cub?" the man continued. "He was rather unresponsive to our questions."

"I will not say anything until you tell me where he is. And if I find out that he has been harmed in anyway by your lackeys, then..." he shrugged and left his obvious threat open for them to fill in the blank."

"That...well that is the thing, you see."

The orange-haired vampire's eyes narrowed in deep suspicion.

The wizard heaved a deep sigh before continuing again. "The cub...he was highly uncooperative when my colleagues tried to ask him a few questions about your species. He even went so far as to attack one of our staff members when he tried to give him something to calm him down."

Larten bit back a snarl at the man's wording. He clearly was not calling Darren a cub as an affectionate moniker.

"What have you done with him?"

"He didn't respond very well to the sedative and well..."

The meaning of his words finally began to sink in. "You cannot mean-"

"I'm afraid so."

The world seemed to fall open under the vampire's feet. "You mean you killed him?"

"Not on purpose, I assure you but-"

The wizard lurched back and away from a set of potentially deadly super-hardened nails that slashed at him from between the bars.

"How could you? He was a mere boy!"

Larten's hands shook in anger. They had _murdered _his Assistant and he had let them do it! The boy had been his responsibility and he had trusted him to keep him safe, no matter how much he professed to hate him and he had failed fatally.

-:-:-

Darren scrunched his eyes shut against the filtered sunlight shining through the bars of his cage. Wait, sunlight? When had he been put outside? Where was he? Who were those people? What did they _do _to him? The foul stench -magic apparently-that had permeated his cell at wherever that place was almost overpowered the natural, comforting scents of the forest.

His head pounded painfully as the light hit his disused eyes and his chest still throbbed painfully.

"Mr. Crepsley, are you here too?" he felt silly even bothering to ask but did it anyway.

Suddenly, a twig snapped and a branch crunched as something or someone huge made their way to the cage with a sack full of something that reeked of blood. Was it a werewolf? No, there was only a half moon out that night. Was it one of those bogey-men that his mother and Mr. Crepsley -surprisingly enough- used to try to get him to go to bed? He wouldn't be surprised. Since finding out about the existence of magic and becoming a vampire, the boy was loath to simply dismiss anything as a simple old wives' tale anymore. Darren's eyes widened as cold fear raced through his bones. Whatever it was, it was getting closer and he was alone defenseless in the spelled cage. The helpless half-vampire shrank back as far back into the cage as he dared to and waited for the creature to seal his fate.

-:-:-

**Not too happy with Mr. C's part but I kind of just wanted to get this published already.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, yes, 'tis I yet again with a super late update. I'm updating this one first because apparently people like this one better.**

**Also it's been like six years since I've actually read Harry Potter, so I apologize if anybody is out of character and also for my lack of knowledge about British slang.**

**Review answers:**

**To the people who asked about Darren's age: I think I already answered that in an earlier chapter, but I can do it again.**

***deep breath***

**So to make this work with my knowledge of the HP universe and to try to trample as little canon (or semi-canon as the case may be) of both universes to make things work, I decided that 1997 would be the year that Darren was turned since that's when the first book came out. So when this story starts, Darren has been with Mr. Crepsley for four years so far**_**. **_**And if that didn't answer very well, in my headcanon for this AU, he's about fifteen years old.**

-/-/-/-

Year: 2001

To say that Auror Potter's day had gone to the hounds would be a massive understatement.

Teddy had woken up sick, Ginny was mad at him for forgetting some date and now he was getting swamped with paperwork about Hagrid's newest project.

He groaned and dragged a hand through his already tousled hair. This stuff wasn't even supposed to be in his department!

It was at times like this when he almost wished there was a dark wizard or magical creature uprising or something so he could just get out of this bloody office for even a minute.

What was this even for?

Sharp green eyes quickly scanned the pile of parchment in front of their owner.

A vampire? Hagrid wanted to bring a _vampire _to Hogwarts?

"No way..."

He turned to the next page which gave information on the creature.

The picture clipped to the corner didn't show a wild animal like he was expecting, but a fearful young boy who looked like he could be a first or second year at Hogwarts.

Harry kept reading, feeling sorry for the boy in the picture no matter what he really was. When he reached the back of the packet and saw the researcher's name, he frowned in annoyance.

Of course it had to be Sanguinus. The madman had been trying to get funding from the Ministry since he became convinced that vampires had played a part in the Second Wizarding War and it looked like he had finally gotten his wish. He had tried to convince Harry to back him up on his endeavor because of his fame and his almost equally famous pocketbook. He was made a laughingstock after Harry rather unceremoniously rejected his request after over a week of heckling.

It wouldn't really surprise him if he had kidnapped a child or a humanoid magical creature to suit his purposes.

If he were to be honest, the whole thing seemed a little suspicious.

The young man sighed and pulled out one of the autonomous quills that Ron and Fred had given him when he had gotten this job "for use in emergencies". He whispered what he needed to it and shrugged his coat on. Hermione would definitely know what to do about this. Though she might get mad at him for ditching work when he had so much of it to get done.

Harry took one more look at the black-haired boy in the picture. Ah well, she would understand. More than likely at least.

-/-/-/-

**We'll get back to Darren in the next chapter, fear not my pretties. I just didn't want to do add the P.O.V change in this chapter for some reason.**


	5. Chapter 5

_**SLC SPOILERS AHOY**_

_-/-/-/-_

_My earlier hypothesis that vampires maintain very strong relationships between the dominus and cub has recently been proven. _

_We have separated the cub from his sire and are sending him to Hogwarts so that he can be used as a teaching tool for the children there._

_The remaining vampire has been led to believe that his cub is dead. Upon this "revelation" the older specimen ( subject B) ceased struggling and became despondent._

_-/-/-/-_

Larten stared dully at the wall on the opposite side of his newest enclosure.

He had no real idea of how long he had been trapped, but his best estimate based upon the shifts he could hear his captors taking beyond the glass, it had been three, nearly four nights.

Almost four nights since they killed Darren.

The official-looking man had attempted to apologize several times, but he was silenced quickly with a snarl each time.

Why did this always have to happen? It was as though there was a curse on everybody he cared for. Vur, Wester, Alicia, Malora, and now Darren had all met horrible ends to their short lives.

Larten fought back another wave of tears. Darren had not deserved that. He was much too young to be killed the way he more than likely was.

He let his head drop back onto the wall behind him and stared at the equally boring ceiling.

It seemed like there was no way out of this one. The wizards would never let him out, and he could not mentally ask for help for fear of accidentally directing them to the Mountain or another group of vampires to "study". That was not to mention of course the fact that it would be _beyond _embarrassing to have to be rescued.

So for now, he would stay here with these...people until he figured out a way to escape and quite possibly exact horrible revenge on their ringleader. He knew from experience that doing so would do him no good but he supposed that he could fool himself into thinking that it was solely to discourage them from ever coming after any other vampires.

-/-/-

I screwed my eyes shut and curled up in a ball as the bloody giant approached my cage.

"Aw, poor lil' feller. Yer jes' a mite, ain't ya?" a man's voice half-cooed.

I barely dared to look as he thumped his bag on the soft forest loam. Now that he was closer I could tell that the scent of blood didn't come from him, but from the dead animals inside of the burlap sack.

"I'll bet yer hungry."

He rummaged around in his bag and I peeked out from under my elbow. Whoever this guy was, he was massive!Standing up, he'd probably _tower _over Mr. Crepsley, and he's one of the biggest people I know! Plus, he totally had the old spider on width. The only other person I'd ever met that size was Rhamus from the Cirque.

While I gawped, he stuck his hand between the bars that mysteriously enough didn't burn him or even spark when he touched them, and shoved a rabbit from the bag underneath my nose.

I uncurled slightly but maintained a defensive position as I sniffed carefully at it.

"Go on, take it."

I looked up at him, slightly repulsed. I _was _pretty hungry but it was obvious he wasn't going to give me anything to clean it with, much less a fire to cook it.

Mr. Crepsley would probably laugh at me and tell me that our years of living with the Cirque had made me soft, but even _he _had standards about his food. He never actually made me eat anything raw unless it was vegetables of course.

"You mean you want me to eat it _raw_?"

The look on the giant's face was priceless. The dead animal fell from his hands and he gaped even more so than I had when I first saw him.

"Ye can speak?"

I scoffed. "Of course! I'm not nearly as slow as you and your friends think I am."

-/-/-/-

"What? But that's horrible!" Hermione cried.

"I know, 'Mione, that's why I was asking you for more information."

"How could they? _Knowing _that they have such strong familial bonds and-"

"Hermione, can-"

"-like SeaWorld and their orcas all over-"

"SeaWorld?" Ron whispered over to Harry.

"It's an American thing, I believe."

Harry sighed. Maybe he should've just gone to Hagrid first.

-/-/-/-

**Yuck. I don't really like this chapter but I needed to get something out before I go on vacation.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A note about Mr. Crepsley's cell: it's a pretty small room, maybe only 5x7 feet and it has bars and a ward that only allows specific stuff (i.e food, stunning spells) to come into the cell and allows basic all anything that isn't Mr. C to pass back through it. The bars are spelled to where he can't break them though so the the ward is kind of an unnecessary precaution, but then again the Ministry does do a whole bunch of other unnecessary stuff.**

-/-/-/-

The dent between Larten's eyebrows deepened behind his blindfold as the wizards-"Unspeakables"- led him along down one of the many winding halls of the compound. They were letting him walk around by himself now that he had proven himself to be "harmless" to himself and others.

He listened to the wizards' footsteps to see if there were any hollow spots in the slate that would bely an exit even though he he knew his shackles were more than likely enchanted to prevent him from leaving a certain radius.

One of his captors stopped abruptly and rapped her wand in a staccato pattern on what was probably a wooden door.

They unceremoniously pushed him into the room and slammed the door. His shackles fell off as the door clicked shut and he rubbed his chafed wrists to work some circulation back into them. Why were they letting him loose? His nose told him he was the only being in the room, but in a place like this one could never be too sure.

He pulled off his blindfold and came face to face with something out of his worst nightmares.

-/-/-

Durus straightened out his robes for the hundredth time and hustled out of his office to meet his guest. _Harry Potter _was _finally_ asking to see him! He supposed that it was all in due time though seeing as the main reason Potter wouldn't fund him in the beginning was his lack of proof. And now he had two living, breathing specimens of proof! Nobody could deny hi-...it now!

Potter stood impatiently at the front of the Department.

"Sorry I'm late."

The younger man glanced down at him and smiled cordially.

"Hello, Sanguinus."

"Please, call me Durus."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Alright then. Now, a little owl told me that you-"

"Captured _two _vampires? Finally got proof of their existence?"

Harry gave him a look. That was part of the reason he wouldn't fund him earlier. The man was frankly an incompetent twat. The vampire cub was probably in much better hands with Hagrid.

"...yes, that. But before I make any decisions about whether or not I want to support you, I need to see the remaining vampire." Harry could just imagine Ginny rolling her eyes at his poor fib.

The short wizard in front of him obviously hadn't picked up on that yet.

"Oh, yesofcourse! This way, this way."

The young Auror fought the urge to roll his eyes and followed him down one of the many halls that sprouted from the foyer.

-/-/-/-

Harry's eyes widened in shock. It wasn't that he had expected him to be some snarling, feral beast, but the man in the cell looked so...broken. He looked-he thought with pity-the way he did after Sirius fell through the veil. It was hard to believe this was the same person that was in his mugshot.

"What did you _do _to him?"

"Well today, we put him in a room with a boggart, and from what we could see, it wasn't pretty."

_Today?_

Harry looked at the smaller man incredulously. That was a terrible thing to do somebody. Especially somebody who had ok means of defending themselves against such a thing. It was a good thing Hermione had other work to do at the moment.

The shackled man in the cell turned his head and glared balefully at the two of them. His eyes widened in almost recognition at seeing his new visitor but his frown returned almost immediately as he registered the obvious differences between Harry and the person he was hoping for.

"Tell me more about him," Harry said, not taking his eyes off of the lonely vampire.

The cruel scientist's eyes lit up gleefully and he began to rattle off facts that Harry only half listened to.

'_Hello._'

Only years of experience kept Harry from jumping out of his skin at the voice in his head.

_'Um, hello. You're the vampire, aren't you?'_

_'How astute.'_

_'How are you doing this?'_

_'Vampires have the ability to communicate telepathically.'_

There was a pause.

'_You must have a particularly sensitive mind for this to work.' _The vampire sounded almost impressed.

'_I learned at a young age.' _Harry mentally shrugged.

'_I take it _he _is one of your coworkers?'_

There was derision practically dropping from his tone.

'_Nah. I just decided to drop by because an old friend of mine brought the cub to school to use as a teaching tool-"_

_'A _teaching tool?' The orange-haired man was on his feet, his expression contorted into one of rage. '_They _dare _use my Assistant's _body _as a _teaching tool?'

"Mr. Potter, are you listening?"

Harry made a noncommittal noise.

'_Body? That's disgusting! Why would we do that to a child?'_

_'You just said-'_

_"_Mr. Potter-!"

_'You're misunderstanding. My friend teaches Care of Magical Creatures. I assure you, he's in _much _better hands.'_

_'What do you mean? Darren is dead. If this is some kind of joke-'_

_"Stupefy!"_

The vampire stumbled back as the spell hit him in the shoulder.

_"_Sanguinus! What are you doing?"

"He was hypnotizing you! He was probably planning to use you to cancel the ward!"

"You don't think I could've handled that on my own? I've faced down much worse than vampires before."

"Oh, no of course not, sir," the Ministry floundered, trying to save the situation.

"He wasn't hypnotizing me, by the way. There are very few creatures that can do that with a glance and vampires aren't one of them."

The balding man pursed his lips in annoyance. He was supposed to be the resident expert on vampires.

Harry decided against mentioning his conversation to the shorter man.

"I think I've seen enough. I'll contact you with my decision in the near future."

Harry turned on his heel, leaving the other man standing by himself and apparated away once he reached the foyer, not even bothering with the Floo. He just needed to get out of there before he did something foolish.

He popped back into his office a few seconds later, questions clicking through his brain at a mile a minute. What did he mean his assistant-assuming he meant the vampire cub-was dead? He was alive and well at Hogwarts! That must mean that-

Harry felt disgust and anger boil up inside his gut. Of all the things you could do to somebody! He could only imagine how he would feel if someone pulled the same thing with him and Teddy.

"Sir, are you okay?" one of his subordinates asked tentatively.

"I will be in a moment."

He checked his watch. It was ten past five, so Hermione should be preparing to leave her office now.

Harry stepped outside and boarded a nearby elevator to take him to the next floor up. Hermione's position gave her access to the Restricted section of the Ministry library and she would know exactly where to look for more information.

-/-/-/-

**I don't really like the ending and I can't write Harry for some reason. Ah, well.**

**Thanks for all the follows and favorites, you guys!**

**Also if you have time could you check out my other two stories? I have new chapters in the works for both of them, but I'd like some feedback and reader input too to help me out a little bit.**

_**One Little Did **_**is going to be a collection of AU drabbles btw and any ideas I get will be appreciated and considered.**


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